Leadership Ideas, Information and News

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Academy breaks ground on new $40 million Center for Character, Leadership Developmen

10/24/2012 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNS) -- Air
Force Academy officials broke ground Oct. 19 for the Academy's new
Center for Character and Leadership Development building.

The CCLD has served as the focal point of the Academy's commitment to
developing leaders of character since its creation in 1993. The CCLD
mission is to advance the understanding, practice and integration of
character and leadership development for the cadets in preparation for
their service to the nation in the profession of arms.

The CCLD building is a $40 million project funded by the annual military
construction budget, and more than $10 million from donors. The
facility is modeled on the design of an existing architectural icon, the
Academy Chapel. Once built, the Academy's two structural icons will be
adjacent to each other.

"The CCLD is a bold initiative to develop an iconic architectural
concept to symbolically state our commitment to character and leadership
development," said Duane Boyle, deputy director of the Academy
Directorate of Installations. "Polaris has long been a navigation tool
used to guide the traveler. Likewise, it symbolically relates to one's
own ethical and moral journey through life.

"The steel and glass tower aligns with Polaris, sending a powerful
message to all that leadership and character development are paramount
in all that we do. The transparency of the architecture is indicative of
the serious nature of its function: the free exchange of thoughts,
opinions and knowledge in an open environment," Boyle explained. "Our
new center places the Academy at the pinnacle of character and
leadership development nationally and will spark the interest of all who
believe that our nation's future is based on thoughtful, careful, and
meaningful decisions of our leadership, both military and civilian."

Because the CCLD building is being built in a National Historic Landmark
District, Academy officials have actively worked with the historic
preservation community in the planning of the construction.

The facility will be environmentally friendly, being a Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum-level certified
building, Boyle said. Platinum is the highest level "green" designation
by the Green Building Certification Institute of the U.S. Green Building
Council. Only 17 other buildings in the nation have reached that level.